Wire-laying device



June 17, 1941. KEMPE 2,245,788

WIRE-LAYING DEVICE Filed Jan. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-She et 1 6 Figrl 4;,..3m,mM W

June 17, 1941. KEMPE 2,245,788

WIRE-LAYING DEVICE Filed Jan. 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fgt'. Z 2 a3 vPatented June 17, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Engla ApplicationJanuary 13, 1939, Serial No. 250,812 In Great Britain January 25, 1938 6Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for temporarily laying electriccables, such as telephone cables, and it is especially applicable foruse in military exercises or operations where telephone cables have tobe laid on the ground or supported on hedges or the like, the cablebeing paid out from and afterwards picked up upon a travelling vehicle.The apparatus according to the present invention is of the kind in whichthe cable is stored on a rotatable drum and drawn therefrom by afeed-roll device for paying out the cable, as described in my UnitedStates Patent applications Serial No. 123,939, filed February 3, 1937,now Patent No. 2,203,435, dated June 4, 1940 and No. 171,519, filedOctober 28, 1937 now Patent No. 2,223,l10,'dated November 26, 1940.

The present invention has for its main objects to provide transmissionmeans for rotating, the feed roll device by the rotation of the storagedrum, or vice versa, to dispense with the provision of a countershaftfor driving either of the said devices, as required, while allowing theother of the said devices to be operated by the pull of the cable, toensure direct relation between the speeds of the said devices, toprovide means for utilizing the mass of the drum and coiled cable toensure steady rotation of said devices and regular movement of thecable, and to compensate automatically for the varying diameter of thecoil of cable upon the drum, both as regards the speed-relationnecessary for feeding out or winding in the cable without slip and asregards the flywheel efiect provided by the rotating drum with itsvariable quantity of cable.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear fromthe subsequent description given with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are respectively a side elevation, a plan and an endelevation of one form of carrying out the present invention. Fig. 4 is adetail, drawn on a larger scale, showing a freewheel device incorporatedin the driving mechanism.

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing modified forms of the invention.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. l-3, the cable storage drum aand the feed-roll device I: are connected by variable speed transmissionmeans in the form of a flat belt 0 engaging the periphery of the coil ofcable (1 upon the drum a and running over a flanged belt pulley esecured upon the spindle f of the driven feed-roll b the eifectivediameter of said belt pulley e being substantially equal to that of saidfeed-roll b The co-operating pressure roll I; is arranged to press thecable against the feed-roll b the rolls being preferably of metal, facedwith rubber, and the cable is kept in position between these rolls bypairs of guide rolls b. The cable drum is detachably mounted upon asquared portion a" of a rotatable driving spindle 11. from which it canbe removed for replacement when empty or otherwise when desired.

As the cable drum a is revolved for paying out the cable (1, the belt 0which frictionally engages the pulley face provided by the coil of cableon the drum will drive the belt pulley e, which in turn will rotate thedriving feed-roll b at a peripheral speed substantially equivalent tothat of the coil of cable; the feed-roll device thus draws the free endof the coiled cable onward just as fast as it is unwound from thestorage drum, in spite of the decreasing diameter of the coil, the cablebeing thrown forward in the known way from the feed-roll device.

I provide suitable means, as hereafter described, to compensate for thedecreasing effective diameter of the coil of cable d when the cable isbeing paid out by the feed-roll device, so that the belt c is keptautomatically tensioned and a continuous feed of cable is obtainedthrough the feed-roll device.

The proportional drive between the cable drum a and the feed-rollspindle f varies exactly and directly with the decreasing diameter ofthe coil as the cable d is drawn off, although it becomes necessary forthe drum spindle a to revolve at an increasingly higher speed as thecoil of cable d decreases in size, in order to maintain the same rate ofdelivery of the cable from the teed-roll device.

Such a variable speed can be imparted to the drum spindle either bypower or by hand, employing means such as a flexible power shaft, amotor or a detachable crank handle. As shown in Figs. 1-3, a crankhandle h is fitted loosely upon the end of the spindle a remote from thecable storage drum, the spindle a being extended through a gear box i toreceive the handle, which is retained bya nut h". This gearbox comprisesa gear-fitted lay shaft h adapted to be driven by a gear-wheel h fixedto the handle 71. and to drive a pinion a, loose on the spindle a atgreatly increased speed relatively to that of the handle h.

spaces between the teeth of a free-wheel a screwed tightly upon a hubmember a keyed to the spindle a the free-wheel 9 being of the ordinarykind used on chain-driven bicycles. The multiplying gear train h h, a"enables the crank handle it to drive the spindle a and drum a atsufllciently high speed for paying out the cable without excessive orinconvenient speed of the handle, while the provision or the free-wheel9 allows the handle to be released if desired, the drum then continuingto rotate by its own inertia, without danger of injury by the handleturning idly with it.

The feed-roll device b is shown mounted at the head of a pillar lslidable on parallel arms kk supported in bosses i upon the gear box i.A spring 1 coiled around the arm In, between the pillar and the gearbox,acts on the pillar to move the feed-roll device away from the drumspindle a and thus keep the belt in tension.

During the unwinding of the cable (1 from the drum 0, the diameter ofthe coil of cable decreases, asalready mentioned, and the spring 1gradually moves the slidable pillar 1 along the arms kk thus displacingthe feed-roll device b away from the drum so as automatically to take upany slack which would otherwise occur in the driving belt 0. Instead ofthe slidable pillar supporting the feed-roll device, I may provide othermeans, for example as described hereafter with reference to Fig. 6,tending to displace the feed-roll device b relatively to the drum 0 andthereby keep the belt tensioned.

The feed-roll device b should be so positioned that the cable d passingbetween the rolls 12 1) and guided by the rolls b is alignedapproximately with the middle portion of the coil of cable on the drum,as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, while the endless flat belt c should bear onthe coil of cable near one side-cheek a of the drum. In unwinding thecable from its storage drum, the run of the cable leaving the coiltravels from one side-cheek of the drum to the other and then back tothe first side (assuming the cable to have been evenly wound on thedrum), the cable escaping laterally from inside the loop of the endlessbelt 0 and the efiective diameter of the coil being thereby graduallydecreased; if the vehicle from which the cable is laid is to maintainits speed of travel, and the cable is to be fed out at a correspondingspeed, the drum must be rotated at increasing speed, inverselyproportionate to its decreasing diameter, but the variable transmissionprovided between the cable storage drum and the feed-roll device willautomatically compensate for the decreasing diameter of the coil ofcable on the drum in order to maintain the operation of the feed-rolldevice at substantially constant speed, proportionate to that of thevehicle.

It will be noted that in this form of cablelaying apparatus I employ thecable drum as a flywheel, and that as the weight of the cable thereondecreases, the increasing speed of the drum will maintain the steadyingor flywheel eflfect. Where the apparatus is hand-operated, it istherefore not necessary to add a flywheel to give smooth and evenrotation of the parts; in this way unnecessary weight is saved.

To facilitate the fitting of the cable drum and its exchange whenemptied, in cases where there is not suflicient room for sliding thedrum horizontally on and oil the driving spindle a I may provide thegearbox i with a pivotal mounting whereby the spindle a projecting fromthe gearbox may be tilted upwardly from the horizontal. The gearbox isshown formed with a base flange 1', which is mounted upon a pivot bolt icarried by a support 7' adapted for bolting to a bracket 7' (Fig. 1)upon the vehicle; the support 7'" is provided with a displaceablelocking bolt 1'" fltted with a nut 1' whereby the base flange 7' can besecured to its support in normal working position. When the nut i isdisengaged and the gearbox is tilted up about its pivot 1, the drum canbe lifted 01f its spindle after removal of a retaining nut a.

When it is desired to recover the laid cable by winding it back on tothe drum a, the belt 0 can, if desired, be retained in operation so asto drive the feed-roll device in the opposite direction by reversing thedirection of rotation of the drum. Alternatively, the belt c can beremoved from the pulley e on the feed-roll spindle, the cable in thatcase being either guided and returned between the rolls b b b or takenclear of the rolls and guided by hand on to the drum. If the handle itand free-wheel a" have been employed for paying out the cable from thedrum, the laidcable may be recovered by slipping the drum on its spindlea and replacing it in the reverse position, when continued turning ofthe handle with the free-wheel driving inthe same direction will rewindthe cable; if preferred, however, I may utilize the other end of thespindle a or the exposed side-cheek a of the drum for turning the latterbackwards when it is desired to recover the cable.

In the arrangement indicated in Fig. 5, the feed-roll device b is shownprovided with a second belt-pulley m whereby the spindle of the roll bcan be power-driven through a belt from any suitable source of power,the same spindle operating to drive the drum 1: by means of its pulley eand the flat belt 0, with variable speed-relation as above described.

In the modification of Fig. 6, the belt 0 is antomatically tensioned bymounting the drum spindle a on a tilting lever n pivoted at 12. upon aconvenient support, such as the bracket 7' shown in Fig. 1. The lever 11is inclined beyond the vertical, away from the feed-roll device, so thatthe weight of the storage drum and cable will automatically keep thebelt 0 tensioned whatever the eflective diameter of the coiled cable,the inclination increasing to compensate the reduction of weight as thecable is unwound off the drum.

What I claim is:

1. A transportable cable-laying and recovery device, comprising arotatable cable-storage drum, coacting rolls for feeding out cableunwound from said drum, a belt pulley connected to one of said rolls, abelt engaged by said pulley and mounted partly around the coil of cableupon said drum, and means for rotating said drum and said rollsimultaneously through the agency of said belt and pulley, thespeed-relation of said drum and said roll varying with the diameter ofsaid coil.

2. A transportable cable-laying and recovery device, comprising arotatable cable-storage drum, coacting rolls for feeding out cableunwound from said drum, a belt pulley connected to one of said rolls, abelt engaged by said pulley and mounted partly around the coil or cableupon said drum, and means for rotating said drum in a direction tounwind cable from said coil, said cable-feeding rolls being rotated bysaid belt and pulley at a speed and in a direction to pay out the cableas it is unwound from said coil.

3. A transportable cable-laying and recovery device, comprising arotatable cable-storage drum, coacting rolls for feeding out cableunwound from said drum, a belt pulley connected to one of said rolls, abelt engaged by said pulley and mounted partly around the coil of cableupon said drum, and means for rotating said rolls, the coil of cable onsaid drum being rotated by said pulley and belt at a peripheral speedsubstantially equivalent to that of said rolls.

4. A transportable cable-laying and recovery device, comprising arotatable cable-storage drum, coactlng rolls for feeding out cableunwound from said drum, a belt pulley connected to one of said rolls, abelt engaged by said pulley and mounted partly around the coil of cableupon said drum, said drum and said pulley being relatively displaceableto maintain tension of said belt during the unwinding of cable from saidcoil, and means for rotating either of said drum and said roll, theother of said drum and said roll being rotated simultaneously throughthe agency of said belt and pulley, and the speedrelation of said drumand said roll varying with the diameter of said coil having said beltmounted partly therearound.

5. A transportable cable-laying and recovery device, comprising arotatable cable-storage drum, coacting rolls for feeding out cableunwound from said drum, a belt pulley connected said belt, spring meansurging to one of said rolls, a belt engaged by said pulley and mountedpartly around the coil of cable upon, said drum, a support for saidrolls and belt pulley, said support being slidable towards and away fromsaid drum to maintain tension of said support to slide away from saiddrum and means for rotating either of said drum and said roll, the otherof said drum and said roll being rotated simultaneously through theagency of said belt and pulley, and the speed-relation of said drum andsaid roll varying with the diameter of said coil having said beltmounted partly therearound.

6. A transportable cable-laying and recovery device, comprising arotatable cable-storage drum, coasting rolls for feeding out cableunwound from said drum, to one of said rolls, a belt engaged by saidpulley and mounted partly around the coil of cable upon said drum, apivotal support for said drum, said support being movable away from saidrolls by the weight of said drum so as to maintain tension of said beltduring the unwinding of cable from said coil, and means for rotatingeither of said drum and said roll, the other of said drum and said rollbeing rotated simultaneously through the agency of said belt and pulley,and the speed-relation of said drum and said roll varying with thediameter of said coil having said bel't mounted partly therearound.

IRWIN TREVANION KEMPE.

a belt pulley connected

